Ariel Wang

San Jose, CA, USA

Email me

Ariel Wang

San Jose, CA, USA

Ariel Wang

San Jose, CA, USA

Email me

Hi, I'm Ariel Wang.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Human–Computer Interaction at UC Santa Cruz, and a UX researcher with 6 years of experience bridging academic insight and real-world impact.

I explore how youth and other underserved populations engage with social media and digital health technologies, and how thoughtful designs for repetitive use can promote long-term well-being and meaningful connection. My work combines qualitative research such as interviews and co-design workshops to inform design decisions.

Resume

News and updates

2025 July

🏆 Awarded the Dissertation Fellowship at UC Santa Cruz.

2025 Jun

Selected to present at the Doctoral Consortium at CSCW 2025 at Bergen, Norway!

2025 Mar

🏆 Awarded the Diversity Innovation Fellowship at UC Santa Cruz: I’m honored to be selected for this fellowship, which supports innovative work at the intersection of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

2025 Feb

My research on food allergy identities on social media got accepted at CHI 2025!

2024 Sep

I presented our paper, From Viral Content to Real-Life Cuisine and Beyond: Examining Teenagers’ Interactions with TikTok Food Videos and the Influence on Their Food Practices, at CSCW 24, Costa Rica.

2024 Aug

I passed my advancement and am officially a PhD candidate!

2024 Jun

I led a team of research interns at UCSC to conduct digital ethnography with food allergy populations.

2024 Apr

Hosted a full-day workshop, Forms of Fraudulence in Human-Centered Design: Collective Strategies and Future Agenda for Qualitative HCI Research, at CHI 2024.

2023 Dec

🏆 I was selected as Graduate Pedagogy Fellow at UCSC.

2023 Dec

Our paper, “Understanding fraudulence in online qualitative studies: From the researcher’s perspective” has been accepted to CHI 2024.

2022 Sep

I transferred with our lab to the University of California, Santa Cruz.

2022 Apr

Our paper, "TikTok made me do it": teenagers’ perception and use of food content on TikTok", got accepted to IDC 2022.

2021 Dec

🏆 Our robot design about human-plant interactions got Best Narrative Award at HRI 2021.

2021 Aug

Starting my PhD journey -- I joined the ProHealth Lab at Indiana University Bloomington, advised by Dr. Christina Chung!

Work

TikTok Made Me Do It: Teenagers’ Perception and Use of Food Content on TikTok

Teenagers use TikTok as a tool to support and shape their food practices, fast and slow

TikTok Made Me Do It: Teenagers’ Perception and Use of Food Content on TikTok

Teenagers use TikTok as a tool to support and shape their food practices, fast and slow

TikTok Made Me Do It: Teenagers’ Perception and Use of Food Content on TikTok

Teenagers use TikTok as a tool to support and shape their food practices, fast and slow

Too Much On Top of Your Food Drama: Food Allergy Information and Identity Work on Social Media

People with food allergies explore and negotiate their identities and experience on social media

Too Much On Top of Your Food Drama: Food Allergy Information and Identity Work on Social Media

People with food allergies explore and negotiate their identities and experience on social media

Too Much On Top of Your Food Drama: Food Allergy Information and Identity Work on Social Media

People with food allergies explore and negotiate their identities and experience on social media

Co-Designing the Future Social Media with Teenagers

We investigate teenagers' goals of using technology to achieve a healthy lifestyle through co-designing the future social media

Co-Designing the Future Social Media with Teenagers

We investigate teenagers' goals of using technology to achieve a healthy lifestyle through co-designing the future social media

Co-Designing the Future Social Media with Teenagers

We investigate teenagers' goals of using technology to achieve a healthy lifestyle through co-designing the future social media

Design for Policymaking

Our team use design research methods to help co-create the future policies for Taiwan's future design ecosystem

Design for Policymaking

Our team use design research methods to help co-create the future policies for Taiwan's future design ecosystem

Design for Policymaking

Our team use design research methods to help co-create the future policies for Taiwan's future design ecosystem

Publications

All Publications

It’s Too Much On Top of Your Own Food Drama:Food Allergy Identity and Experience on Social Media

Chun-Han Wang, Elizabeth Kaziunas, Chia-Fang Chung

CHI '25

PDF

From viral content to real-life cuisine and beyond: Examining teenagers’ interactions with TikTok food videos and the influence on their food practices

Chun-Han Wang, Stephen Tsung-Han Sher, Chia-Fang Chung

CSCW ’24

PDF

Understanding fraudulence in online qualitative studies: From the researcher's perspective

Aswati Panicker, Novia Nurain, Zaidat Ibrahim, Chun-Han Wang, Seung Wan Ha, Yuxing Wu, Kay Connelly, Katie A Siek, Chia-Fang Chung

CHI '24

PDF